19 July 2011 early edition
The 19 July 2011 early edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann was a special presentation of live coverage of the testimony of Rupert and James Murdoch before Parliament. The edition was titled "Countdown Special Report: Murdoch Testifies." The program was followed by an original late edition. Introduction Olbermann discussed the recent events of the News International phone hacking scandal, as well as the revelation that NewsCorp's owners may be preparing to remove Rupert Murdoch as CEO and replace him with COO Chase Carey. Guest commentator John Dean discussed the similarities between Murdoch's scandal and the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s that ended the Presidency of Richard Nixon, in which both powerful men, without ever issuing direct instructions to conduct, or having explicit prior knowledge of, illegal activites, created an atmosphere in which those illegal activites were encouraged, as well as the "incestuousness" and "cross-pollinization" of the politics, police, and media involved in the News International scandal. Olbermann also gave background on the politicians making up the Committee on Culture, Sport and Media which would question the Murdochs, including: * John Whittingdale, Conservative, Maldon & East Chelmsford (chairman) * Therese Coffey, Conservative, Suffolk Coastal * Damian Collins, Conservative, Folkestone & Hythe * Philip Davies, Conservative, Shipley * Louise Mensch, Conservative, Corby * Paul Farrelly, Labour, Newcastle-under-Lyme * Alan Keen, Labour, Feltham & Heston * Jim Sheridan, Labour, Paisley & Renfrewshire North * Tom Watson, Labour, West Bromwich East * Adrian Sanders, Lib-Dem, Torbay Olbermann and Dean discussed the previous thoroughness of the News of the World cover-up, the authority of Parliament to question witnesses more vigorously than Congressional Committees might be able to, and the potential for the Murdochs to stonewall the Committee with tactics similar to those used by Kevin and Ian Maxwell in the early 1990s, as well as the resignations of Paul Stephenson and John Yates, who had both testified before the Home Affairs Committee earlier in the day. The Murdochs John Whittingdale Coverage then cut to the live feed from Portcullis House. James Murdoch requested permission to read an opening statement and was denied, but was allowed to submit a written copy into evidence. Chairman Whittingdale gave background on the 2009 inquiry into News of the World "press standards, privacy, and libel" and introduced the Murdochs before opening proceedings by questioning James about when NewsCorp became aware that, and to what extent, Parliament was misled in 2009. James claimed that his July 7th statement about News of the World not "being in the full possession of the facts" in 2009 was in reference to facts that only came to light in late 2010 after a series of civil trials. Asked why Stuart Kutner, Tom Crone, Colin Myler, Andy Coulson, and Les Hinton all claimed that a thorough investigation had turned up no evidence that anybody else had been involved, James claimed that the company relied on the 2007 police investigation, the Press Complaints Commission report, and the advice of an independent legal firm, all of which he claims indicated "no additional illegality." Asked if those four men were unaware of what was happening going on 2009, James claimed that he didn't know who knew what and when, and neglected to name anyone else involved with phone-hacking at News of the World along wtih Clive Goodman, citing the "current criminal investigations" into that matter. Asked whether News International had initiated any internal investigations, James said that the company had "established a group" that was instructed "to cooperate fully and transparently with the police," and claimed that information provided by News International to the police had precipitated the opening of the investigation in the first place. Asked whether Tom Crone, Rebekah Brooks and Les Hinton had resigned because they knew about phone hacking, James claimed that they had not to his knowledge. Tom Watson Asked by MP Watson if he had been lied to and by whom, Rupert Murdoch admitted that he had been misled but neglected to offer names, citing it as a matter that "the police are investigating." Asked why he News International had not initiated its own investigation after Brooks's 2003 admission of paying police, Rupert claimed that he had no knowledge of the incident at the time, insisting that News of the World constitutes less than 1% of NewsCorp. Asked what he had done after the arrest and conviction of Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire, Rupert claimed that News International assisted the police's investigation while hiring a "leading firm of lawyers" to look into the matter. Asked why he did not fire Neville Thurlbeck for attempt to blackmail two women in 2008, Rupert insisted that he had never heard that Thurlbeck had been charged with blackmail. Rupert admitted that, while he hadn't appointed the law firm, he knew that Harbottle & Lewis had conducted an investigation into News International's emails. He neglected to specify what "major mistake" by the firm he was refering to in his Wall Street Journal interview, and claimed that he was unaware that both John Chapman and Daniel Cloke had admitted to reviewing emails before forwarding them to the firm. Jim Sheridan Therese Coffey Adrian Sanders Philip Davies Paul Farrelly Alan Keen 10-minutes suspension Louise Mensch Closing statement Rebekah Brooks Interlude Whittingdale Watson Mensch Sheridan Collins Farrelly Coffey Davies Sanders Epilogue See Also Category:July 2011 editions 5 5